D&D 5E Theory: Eladrin in 5e

[Jester David]

I'd separate high elves and eladrin. They're very different in concepts and lore, and eladrin in 4e never fit well with established grey elves, silvanesti, sun elves, etc.

Eladrin existed because WotC thought players were too dumb to understand the difference between two types of elves and that having wood elves and high elves was confusing. So they took the Elrond elves and made them eladrin and kept the Legolas elves as elves.
As reasons go it was pretty lame.

That said, I think there's a place for 4e eladrin in the game. I love the idea of a high fey race. It's something D&D was missing, mostly having pixies and other small folk as faeries. But they might be an "advanced" race, something better than a normal race. Being able to teleport is pretty big. The only way it would work would be gaining that at level 5 and only being able to once per day.

The name is problematic though, as it was stolen from a type of angel. So either the angel gets renamed or eladrin get renamed. Or they try and mix the two which seems like a recipe for disaster, either forcing an angelic background on fey or forcing a fey background on a celestial.

 

[doctorhook]

This thread is getting pretty 4E-hostile, and I think y'all should knock it off. The Edition Wars are over! Long live 5E! Let's move on.

"Eladrin elves" were a core feature of 4E. WotC has said the 5E Player's Handbook will have all of the core races of every edition (hence tieflings and dragonborn). By this rule, eladrin will also be a part of the 5E Player's Handbook. Additionally, the misty step spell seems almost designed for them, as Thaumaturge has pointed out. We also know from the table of contents preview that elves will have a longer racial write-up (in terms of page count) than any other race; elves will have at least three subraces: high elves, wood elves, and drow. It's not a stretch that eladrin will be included (perhaps even just as a variant race).

 

[gyor]

The 4e Eldarin were high elves, it why they got moon and gold elf subrace in I think the Neverwinter Campaign guide.

So there are high elves in 5e, they just don't use the term Eldarin. And to show thier extra magical nature they get a free cantrip instead of Feystep which is potentially unbalancing in 5e. Personally I have a feeling if you want a kore 4e feel to high elves/eldarin, take them as your race and go fey pact warlock. Just guessing, but I'm betting they get lots of teleoporting magic.

The cantrip is the consession to 4e, they universal get at will magic, no edition except maybe the one where Elves were a class, did high elves get inheriant magic, except 4e.

 

[bolo__]

To expand this into a General Theory of 5e Elves: drow, as a PC race, would then have darkness (a 2nd level spell) once a day at 5th level

Dancing lights cantrip at level 1, faerie fire at level 3, and darkness at level 5.

Levitate (2nd level spell) also?

 

[I'm A Banana]

The name is problematic though, as it was stolen from a type of angel. So either the angel gets renamed or eladrin get renamed. Or they try and mix the two which seems like a recipe for disaster, either forcing an angelic background on fey or forcing a fey background on a celestial.

I guess I see the 2e angel as actually a type of fey, and the plane of Arborea and the Court of Stars and all such stuff pretty indistinguishable from the Feywild.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

Levitate (2nd level spell) also?

No, it's not there. Maybe there will be a later feat - Improved Lolth-Touched Magic? - to provide some of the other spell-like abilities, along the lines of what happened in 3.xE?

 

[gyor]

I noticed you basically made the drow subrace along the lines of the Tiefling, dancing lights instead of Thaumaturgy, Fairie fire instead of Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness the same. Thing is Drow will also likely get subracial weapons as well as what all elves get making it the most powerful race in the PHB. Hopefully they'll get light sensitivity to balance it out. I know people hate negative racial traits, I normally agree, but in this case I think its needed.

 

[Alessandro Guarita]

I noticed you basically made the drow subrace along the lines of the Tiefling, dancing lights instead of Thaumaturgy, Fairie fire instead of Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness the same. Thing is Drow will also likely get subracial weapons as well as what all elves get making it the most powerful race in the PHB. Hopefully they'll get light sensitivity to balance it out. I know people hate negative racial traits, I normally agree, but in this case I think its needed.

Well, on the last playtest packet, they had.

 

[Scrivener of Doom]

I noticed you basically made the drow subrace along the lines of the Tiefling, dancing lights instead of Thaumaturgy, Fairie fire instead of Hellish Rebuke, and Darkness the same. Thing is Drow will also likely get subracial weapons as well as what all elves get making it the most powerful race in the PHB. Hopefully they'll get light sensitivity to balance it out. I know people hate negative racial traits, I normally agree, but in this case I think its needed.

Actually, I didn't make this: I'm just copying from a source. And, yes, the drow get sunlight sensitivity but no racial weapons.

 

[gyor]

The previous playtest packet (which I lost when I lost my phone), or someone who has seen the PHB*